Web Sex Log

When you’re in the mood, it’s a sure bet that the last thing on your mind is boosting your immune system or maintaining a healthy weight. Yet good sex offers those health benefits and more.

That’s a surprise to many people, says Joy Davidson, PhD, a New York psychologist and sex therapist. “Of course, sex is everywhere in the media,” she says. “But the idea that we are vital, sexual creatures is still looked at in some cases with disgust or in other cases a bit of embarrassment. So to really take a look at how our sexuality adds to our life and enhances our life and our health, both physical and psychological, is eye-opening for many people.”

Sex does a body good in a number of ways, according to Davidson and other experts. The benefits aren’t just anecdotal or hearsay — each of these 10 health benefits of sex is backed by scientific scrutiny.

Among the benefits of healthy loving in a relationship:

1. Sex Relieves Stress

A big health benefit of sex is lower blood pressure and overall stress reduction, according to researchers from Scotland who reported their findings in the journal Biological Psychology. They studied 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity. Then the researchers subjected them to stressful situations — such as speaking in public and doing verbal arithmetic — and noted their blood pressure response to stress.

Those who had intercourse had better responses to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviors or abstained.

Another study published in the same journal found that frequent intercourse was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure in cohabiting participants. Yet other research found a link between partner hugs and lower blood pressure in women.

2. Sex Boosts Immunity

Good sexual health may mean better physical health. Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A or IgA, which can protect you from getting colds and other infections. Scientists at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., took samples of saliva, which contain IgA, from 112 college students who reported the frequency of sex they had.

Those in the “frequent” group — once or twice a week — had higher
levels of IgA than those in the other three groups — who reported being abstinent, having sex less than once a week, or having it very often, three or more times weekly.

3. Sex Burns Calories

Thirty minutes of sex burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up: 42 half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Doubling up, you could drop that pound in 21 hour-long sessions.

“Sex is a great mode of exercise,” says Patti Britton, PhD, a Los Angeles sexologist and president of the American Association of Sexuality Educators and Therapists. It takes work, from both a physical and psychological perspective, to do it well, she says.

4. Sex Improves Cardiovascular Health

While some older folks may worry that the efforts expended during sex could cause a stroke, that’s not so, according to researchers from
England. In a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, scientists found frequency of sex was not associated with stroke in the 914 men they followed for 20 years.

And the heart health benefits of sex don’t end there. The researchers also found that having sex twice or more a week reduced the risk of fatal heart attack by half for the men, compared with those who had sex less than once a month.

5. Sex Boosts Self-Esteem

Boosting self-esteem was one of 237 reasons people have sex, collected by University of Texas researchers and published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.

That finding makes sense to Gina Ogden, PhD, a sex therapist and marriage and family therapist in Cambridge, Mass., although she finds that those who already have self-esteem say they sometimes have sex to feel even better. “One of the reasons people say they have sex is to feel good about themselves,” she tells WebMD. “Great sex begins with self-esteem, and it raises it. If the sex is loving, connected, and what you want, it raises it.”

6. Sex Improves Intimacy

Having sex and orgasms increases levels of the hormone oxytocin, the
so-called love hormone, which helps us bond and build trust. Researchers from
the University of Pittsburgh and the University of North Carolina evaluated 59
premenopausal women before and after warm contact with their husbands and partners ending with hugs. Tey found that the more contact, the higher the oxytocin levels.

“Oxytocin allows us to feel the urge to nurture and to bond,” Britton says.

Higher oxytocin has also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So if you’re feeling suddenly more generous toward your partner than usual, credit the love hormone.

7. Sex Reduces Pain

As the hormone oxytocin surges, endorphins increase, and pain
declines. So if your headache, arthritis pain, or PMS symptoms seem to improve after sex, you can thank those higher oxytocin levels.

In a study published in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and
Medicine, 48 volunteers who inhaled oxytocin vapor and then had their fingers pricked lowered their pain threshold by more than half.

8. Sex Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk

Frequent ejaculations, especially in 20-something men, may reduce the risk of prostate cancer later in life, Australian researchers reported in the British Journal of Urology International. When they followed men diagnosed with prostate cancer and those without, they found no association of prostate cancer with the number of sexual partners as the men reached their 30s, 40s, and 50s.

But they found men who had five or more ejaculations weekly while in their 20s reduced their risk of getting prostate cancer later by a third.

Another study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical
Association, found that frequent ejaculations, 21 or more a month, were linked to lower prostate cancer risk in older men, as well, compared with less frequent ejaculations of four to seven monthly.

9. Sex Strengthens Pelvic Floor Muscles

For women, doing a few pelvic floor muscle exercises known as Kegels during sex offers a couple of benefits. You will enjoy more pleasure, and you’ll also strengthen the area and help to minimize the risk of incontinence later in life.

To do a basic Kegel exercise, tighten the muscles of your pelvic floor, as if you’re trying to stop the flow of urine. Count to three, then release.

10. Sex Helps You Sleep Better

The oxytocin released during orgasm also promotes sleep, according to research.

And getting enough sleep has been linked with a host of other good things, such as maintaining a healthy weight and blood pressure. Something to think about, especially if you’ve been wondering why your guy can be active one minute and snoring the next.

And in short: :)

1. Scientific tests find that when women make love, they produce double amounts of the hormone estrogen, which make hair shiny and skin smooth.
2. Gentle, relaxed lovemaking reduces your chances of suffering dermatitis, skin rashes and blemishes. The sweat produced cleanses the pores and makes your skin glow.
3. Lovemaking can burn up those calories you piled on during that romantic dinner.
4. Sex is one of the safest sports you can take up. It stretches and tones up just about every muscles in the body. It’s more enjoyable than swimming 20 laps and you don’t need special sneakers!
5. Sex is an instant cure for mild depression. It releases the body endorphin into the bloodstream, producing a sense of euphoria and leaving you with a feeling of well-being.
6. The more sex you have, the more you will be offered. The sexually active body gives off greater quantities of chemicals called pheromones. These subtle sex perfumes drive the opposite sex crazy!
7. Sex is the safest tranquillizer in the world. It is 10 times more effective than Valium.
8. Kissing each day will keep the dentist away. Kissing encourages saliva to wash food from the teeth and lowers the level of the acid that causes decay, preventing plaque build-up.
9. Sex actually relieves headaches. A lovemaking session can release the tension that restricts blood vessels in the brain.
10. A lot of lovemaking can unblock a stuffy nose. Sex is a natural antihistamine. It can help combat asthma and hay fever.

There’s only 8 reasons to make love in the next abstract:

Back in the 1940s, a renegade shrink named Wilhelm Reich recommended an orgasm every day to stay healthy. It was part of his reasons for sex he called the “sexual revolution.” Unfortunately, folks were strung pretty tight back then, and they threw Reich’s ass in prison, where orgasms aren’t nearly as much fun.

But thinking this guy was onto something, we called some of the planet’s most renowned M.D.’s to find out if he was right. Guess what? He was. Unless you’re moving from girl to girl like Camryn Manheim moves through a sixpack of cling peaches in heavy syrup, a daily love session is just what the doctor ordered, for you and your partner in crime. Here are eight reasons to never get out of bed.

To get the body you want

When you cut your finger, does Ragu ooze out? Does the idea of exercising induce suicidal hollandaise binges? We can think of one way to have a blast and get in shape simultaneously. “Sex is a vigorous form of exercise,” says Dr. Michael Cirigliano of the University of Pennsylvania. “The physiological changes in your body are consistent with a normal workout. Your heart and respiratory rates rise, and you burn calories.” How many? Having sex three times a week for 20 minutes a pop for a year will burn some 7,500 calories (that’s the equivalent of a 4 1/2 pound wheel of brie). If you did it every day, you could shave off a pound of lard in two weeks. Of course, the more athletic the sex, the better the workout. See you in the emergency room.

Stay in the mood

Ever lie back after a good screw and think, Damn, the world’s a pit of misery. Why not end it all? Of course not. That’s because sex is an antidepressant. During the act your body’s producing pleasure-inducing fluids besides the ones that shoot out of your body. “You’re releasing endogenous opioids. They’re like drugs, but they’re manufactured internally,” says Dr. Alice Ladas, a psychologist and one of the authors of The G Spot. In fact, studies show that merely touching someone can raise the level of serotonin in his brain, which is similar to what Prozac does.

Hurts so good

So she’s got a headache, huh? Arthritis? A fresh chain-saw wound? No excuse: Thanks to the endorphins released during sex, a rowdy belly dance can actually ease her suffering. “Pain threshold in women is elevated 60 to 80 percent during pleasurable stimulation,” explains Dr. Beverly Whipple, a professor of neuroscience and president of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists. In one recent study, Gina Ogden, author of Women Who Love Sex, experimented by attaching a clamp to a woman’s finger and squeezing, first while she was at rest and later while she was getting some. As her subject climaxed, Ogden pinched past the point at which the woman routinely howled, with no response at all. “In the midst of orgasm,” Ogden noted, “she apparently feels no pain.”

Controlling her hormones

Want to help ease those nasty PMS symptoms? Studies show that a woman’s overall reproductive system benefits from frequent penile insertions. “Sexual activity helps strengthen the pubococcygeus muscles (PC muscles), which in turn help keep the pelvic organs in shape and where they belong,” explains Dr. Ladas. Regular love sessions can also postpone the onset of menopause, stimulate fertility, and regulate the menstrual cycle.

Keep it cumming

Fun fact: 52 percent of all men between the ages of 40 and 70 have trouble getting wood. But having more sex can better your chances. Frequent erections keep blood flowing through your capillaries, so the flesh in your bone stays nourished. And more important, an erection is an athletic reflex. “The more you train the coordination between nerve and muscle, the easier it is to perform,” says Dr. Andre Guay, head of the sexual function center at the Lahey Clinic in Peabody, Massachusetts.

The gland of milk and honey

Yeah, the prostate’s a funny little gland. Not only is it a key component in your pleasure machine (and a male G spot, if you know how to find it), it tends to swell as we get older, causing agony for lots of guys. To keep it from bugging you, take saw palmetto (an over-the-counter herb supplement that relieves symptoms of prostate enlargement ), and keep ejaculating. “Most of the fluid you ejaculate comes from the prostate and the seminal vescles,” says Dr. Guay. “When someone stops having orgasms, the fluids back up and the glands can become swollen.” When prostatic congestion occurs, the gland squeezes your urinary tract; pain shoots through your guts and you have a hard time taking a leak. Talk about a spent fuel rod.

Chemical attraction

Bet you didn’t know that testosterone is responsible for sex drive in women as well as men. Yup, a lady with no testosterone will be drier than an AA meeting. Plus, testosterone is a steroid that regulates the body’s metabolism, letting it use energy efficiently. And the more sex you have, the more testosterone you’re producing. “A consquence is that your body is able to stimulate tissue replacement and bone growth, which, among other things, helps prevent osteoporosis,” says Dr. Susan Rako, author of The Hormone of Desire. “Higher levels of testosterone can also promote an overall feeling of well-being.”

Been a long time coming…

Want to live longer? Try adding a little spice to your diet. In 1997 an inquisitive British doctor published a study that followed 918 men between the ages of 45 and 59 for 10 long years to determine how sexual activity affected their life spans. Here’s what he found: Men who had two or more orgasms every week were half as likely to croak as those who averaged fewer than one orgasm a month. And, hey, guys never lie about this kind of stuff, so we’re sure the data’s right on the money.

…And there’s 20 reasons to have sex in another article:

Marvin Gaye knew very well what was singing with his “Sexual healing”. Sex seems to be more than a hormonal discharge and some short moments of pure pleasure. Scientists show that sex is extremely beneficial for our health, while the lack of an active sex life might have negative effects. And masturbation is not a solution: blood prolactin levels in males and females after orgasm is 4 times higher in both sexes compared with the levels after orgasm from masturbation. Prolactin counteracts the effects of another hormone, dopamine, booming during sexual arousal. This explains why orgasm from intercourse is more satisfying than masturbation and the “recovery period” in men, as high levels of prolactin induce erectile dysfunction.

But too much sex, can also be harmful: more than thrice a week it can weaken the immune system, making us vulnerable to infections…

1. Sex is beneficial for both the heart and the blood circulation, especially in the brain. While having sex, the heart rate goes from 70 beats per minute to 150, a good training for the heart. Having sex thrice a week decreases the risk of heart attack by 50 %. Also during the sex intercourses, the breath is deeper, meaning a better oxygenation.

2. The mental and emotional health balance is clearly tuned by sex. People who are involuntarily celibate or abstinent and often exhibit depressive feelings (like anger, frustration, self-doubt, paranoia and even depression) are driven into this by “missed opportunities”, due to living without having sex.

In fact, in case of light depressions, after having sex the brain releases endorphins, that decrease stress, inducing a state of euphoria.

It seems also to be something in the sperm contributing to the good effect on the mood. Researches showed that women whose partners used condoms were more prone to depression than others. This is supposed to be linked to prostaglandin, a chemical found in the sperm and absorbed in the vaginal tract, modulating the woman’s mood. Semen appears to act as an antidepressant in women.

Women who have sex without condoms are also more likely to be victims of the rebound effect following the breakup of their relationship, pointing that there is a withdrawal effect that influences depressiveness when semen exposure stops.

Anyway, protected or not, sex and orgasm do cause a release of endorphins, the “happiness” brain hormone that ‘brings’ the good mood.

Even more important is the fact that sex strengthens the bound of the couple, self esteem, positive thinking and optimism.

A 2007 British research proved that sex is better than money in making you happy, and being sexually active indeed brings a happy life. But more financial power doesn’t bring you more sex.

Sex “enters so strongly (and) positively in happiness equations” that a higher frequency of sexual contacts from once monthly to once weekly is similar to the happiness level increase brought by an additional $50,000 in income for the average American. The happiest individuals were those getting the most and regular sex: married people, or those involved in a relationship, who declared 30% more sexual activity than bachelors. A stable marriage was figured out to bring the same happiness levels provoked by an extra $100,000 earning annually, while divorce was equivalent to a happiness decrease of $66,000 each year.

Psychologists already knew that happy people are usually more sexually active, and many studies confirmed that people who are depressed have less sex. It is sure that mind and sex fuel each other.

3. Sex eliminates stress. You know the feeling of total relaxation and calm following a sexual intercourse. A subsequent profound calming sleep follows, with great effect in combating the stress, and persons with a regular sex life sleep better and feel better the next day.

4. Sex means softer skin. While having sex, a woman’s body doubles the estrogen level, and this makes her hair shine while the skin becomes softer.

5. Long term researches showed that regular basis sex increases the humans’ lifespan. For the same age and health, those who had orgasms more frequently had half the death rate of men who did not have such frequent orgasms. This could be due to the plummeting stress hormones, reaction that installs after we have sex. Frequent orgasms (about 100 per year) have been linked to an increase of 3-8 years in a person’s lifespan and a decrease of death risk of 50%.

6. Sweating while having sex cleanse the skin pores, making the skin brighter and decreasing the risk of developing dermatitis.

7. Sex can keep you fit, burning extra-pounds. Quickies of 20 minutes weekly mean 7 500 calories annually, that’s as much as you consume on 120 km (745 mi) of jogging. A sex session can burn about 200 calories. This is like running 15 minutes on a treadmill!

If this helps, here is a guide on your sex metabolism (however, the following statements have not been scientifically proven…yet):

OPENING HER BRA:
With both hands…………………… 8 Calories
With one hand…………………….. 22 Calories
With your teeth…………………… 85 Calories

PUTTING ON A CONDOM:
With an erection………………….. 6 Calories
Without an erection……………….. 315 Calories

PRELIMINARIES:
Trying to find the clitoris………… 8 Calories
Trying to find the G-Spot………….. 192 Calories

POSITIONS:
Missionary……………………….. 112 Calories
69 lying down…………………….. 178 Calories
69 standing up……………………. 312 Calories
Wheelbarrow………………………. 386 Calories
Doggy Style………………………. 400 Calories
Italian chandelier………………… 972 Calories

ORGASMING:
Real…………………………….. 112 Calories
Fake……………………………. 315 Calories

POST ORGASM:
Lying in bed hugging………………. 18 Calories
Getting up immediately…………….. 36 Calories
Explaining why you got out of bed immediately……816 Calories

GETTING A SECOND ERECTION:
If you are:
20-29 years old…………………… 36 Calories
30-39 years………………………. 80 Calories
40-49 years………………………. 124 Calories
50-59 years………………………. 972 Calories
60-69 years………………………. 2916 Calories
70 and over……………………. Results are still pending

DRESSING UP AFTERWARDS:
Calmly…………………………… 32 Calories
In a hurry……………………….. 98 Calories
With her father knocking at the door… 1218 Calories
With your wife knocking at the door…. 3521 Calories

8. Sex strengthen muscles. So much pushes and flexions… It depends on your stunts in bed, of course, but it’s clearly a lot more fun than running for miles. Bed fitness sessions clearly improve muscles of your pelvis, thighs, buttocks, abdomen, chest and arms.

9. The more active your sex life is, the more attractive for the opposite sex you are. High sexual activity makes the body release more pheromones, chemicals that attract the opposite sex, but also to display a security given by experience.

10. Sex improves senses, at least the smell. Following the orgasm, a rise of the hormone prolactin makes the brain’s stem cells form new neurons in the olfactory bulb, boosting a person’s olfactory abilities.

11.Sex is also a pain reliever, ten times more effective than Valium: immediately before orgasm, levels of the hormone oxytocin rise by five times, determining a huge release of endorphins. These chemicals calm pain, from a minor headache to arthritis or migraines, and with no secondary effects. Migraines also disappear because the pressure in the brain’s blood vessels is lowered while we have sex. So now we see that actually, a woman’s headache is rather a good reason for having sex, not against it.

Sex also stimulates the release of estrogen, decreasing the PSM pains.

12. Kissing stimulates salivation, which cleanses food left between the teeth and lowers the acidity in the mouth, the main cause of the tooth decay and bad breath.

13. Sex fights off allergies. A good sex session can be a good remedy against stiff nose, being a natural antihistaminic that helps combating asthma and high fever.

14. Regular sex balances the ratio good cholesterol: bad cholesterol.

15. Sex balances sex hormones: estrogen protects a woman’s heart but on the long term, it can be efficient also against Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis while testosterone spurs the growth of the bones and muscles.

16. The sexual activity means less colds, flu and infections. 1-2 intercourses weekly means 30 % higher levels of the antibody immunoglobulin A, that spurs the immune system.

17. Sex means a better control of the bladder, as pelvis muscles controlling the urine flow are stronger.

18. After orgasm, especially in the evening, we get sleepy. Sex increases sleep quality. Following an orgasm, the body of both males or females becomes completely relaxed, so they may have a good deep sleep.

19. Most pregnant women stop having sex a few weeks before giving birth, as there is a widespread idea that having sex late in pregnancy could trigger labor. But studies shows this is not true. Prostaglandin is released in huge amounts by the woman’s body as it triggers labor. Also, orgasm can induce uterine contractions. Still, there is no scientific proof that sexual intercourse close to the end of pregnancy starts the labor.

20.Sex fights cancer! Various researches have shown that a high ejaculation frequency and sexual activity are linked to a lower risk of prostate cancer later in life. A study found out that men who ejaculated 13 to 20 times monthly presented a 14% lower risk of prostate cancer than men who ejaculated on average, between 4 and 7 times monthly for most of their adult life. Those ejaculating over 21 times a month presented a 33% decreased risk of developing prostate cancer than the baseline group.

Researches found that sexually active women have a lower risk of developing breast cancer.

Many cancers can be boosted by impairments of the hormonal balance, and perhaps sex and orgasm can fix this. Indeed, increased estrogen levels have been linked with higher risk of many cancers and increased testosterone levels in men has been linked to greater risk for prostate cancer.

But too much sex can be harmful for your health. In fact, over sexual partners increase the risk of infection with papillomavirus (HPV), a common genital virus, which can be transmitted even through anal and oral sex, by 8.6 times.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the leading cause of cervical cancer (in uterus) (95 % of the cases). Due to oral sex, HPV can provoke larynx, esophagus and oropharyngeal cancer (cancer of the throat, tonsils and back of the tongue), in a rate higher than heavy smoking or alcoholism. This virus can also provoke periungual skin, vulva, vagina, penis, perianal and anus cancer and it is also suspected to cause breast cancer.